Production draws near for Equatorial Guinea

June 10, 1996
Zafiro Producer Schedule [16000 bytes] The Swift VLCC tanker undergoes conversion to the Zafiro Producer FPSO at the Port of Galveston, Tex. Units of Mobil Corp. and UMC Petroleum Corp., Houston, are pressing to start Equatorial Guinea's first commercial oil production by the end of third quarter 1996. The historic flow is to come from Zafiro field on 547,000 acre Block B off Bioko Island in the Gulf of Guinea (see map, OGJ, Mar. 27, 1995, p. 24). If all goes as planned, the fast track
The Swift VLCC tanker undergoes conversion to the Zafiro Producer FPSO at the Port of Galveston, Tex.

Units of Mobil Corp. and UMC Petroleum Corp., Houston, are pressing to start Equatorial Guinea's first commercial oil production by the end of third quarter 1996.

The historic flow is to come from Zafiro field on 547,000 acre Block B off Bioko Island in the Gulf of Guinea (see map, OGJ, Mar. 27, 1995, p. 24).

If all goes as planned, the fast track development plan partners have in place will see Zafiro field on production about 18 months after discovery.

Zafiro's production at first will come from eight wells, including four to be drilled this year. Zafiro oil by yearend is to amount to about 40,000 b/d before climbing to as much as 80,000 b/d in 1997.

Zafiro field facilities also will be able to handle as much as 80 MMcfd of gas.

In the latest action, the Oceaneering Production Systems (OPS) unit of Oceaneering International Inc., Houston, has nearly finished converting the 268,000 dwt MT Swift very large crude carrier (VLCC) to a floating production, storage, and offloading (FPSO) unit named Zafiro Producer.

OPS is converting and refurbishing the vessel at a cost of about $70 million under a November 1995 contract with Zafiro partners (OGJ, Dec. 11, 1995, p. 37). OPS also is to operate the FPSO for 3 years under a day rate contract that includes options for two 1 year extensions.

Fast track conversion

The Zafiro Producer FPSO is to depart June 21 from the conversion site, PMB-Bechtel's fabrication yard on Pelican Island at the Port of Galveston near the mouth of the Houston Ship Channel.

OPS paid $10 million for the Swift VLCC. The 1,087 ft tanker arrived at the PMB-Bechtel fabrication yard Dec. 7, 1995, to undergo conversion.

Crews since then have installed two identical production trains, each able to handle as much as 40,000 b/d of oil, 40 MMcfd of gas, and 5,000 b/d of produced water. Also installed on the vessel are test separation facilities, a 1 million b/d offloading system, 12 point symmetrical permanent catenary spread mooring system, steam and power support utility systems, a 66 ft wide helideck, and a 35 ton crane with 100 ft boom.

The FPSO will be able to store more than 1.2 million bbl of oil for offloading into shuttle tankers.

A Ham Marine-PMB joint venture is the primary contractor for the conversion. Ham and Becon Construction Co. provided craft labor for the project.

Crews in the past 6 months have worked 240,000 man-hr installing 765 short tons of structural steel and 31/2 miles of piping on the vessel. Work included fabricating and erecting a 509 ft by 721/2 ft frame 111/2 ft above the ship's deck to support process equipment.

When it leaves PMB-Bechtel's Pelican Island site, the Zafiro FPSO will first sail to a Lisbon, Portugal, shipyard for shell plate repairs, hull coating, and final American Bureau of Shipping class inspections.

Mobil and UMC plan to commission the Zafiro FPSO early in August and move the unit to Zafiro field about the middle of that month.

Zafiro field activity

Zafiro wells are to produce to the FPSO through flow line loops and risers. Four electrohydraulic umbilicals-one for each two wells-are to connect subsea trees to the FPSO's control panel.

Contractors in early June were installing in field pipelines and subsea flow lines in preparation for Zafiro Producer's arrival.

Mobil and UMC in early June were drilling their 2 Topacio well on Block B after drilling five productive wells in six attempts on the tract.

Earlier this year, the Mobil-UMC combine gauged an oil flow of 11,055 b/d from the 1 Topacio well, which also produced 4.2 MMcfd of gas from Qua Iboe strata at 5,806 ft (OGJ, Apr. 1, p. 26). The well is 3 miles south of the 1 Zafiro wildcat, the field's discovery well.

Partners in March 1995 chalked up Equatorial Guinea's first significant oil discovery when 1 Zafiro flowed 10,500 b/d of oil from Miocene Qua Iboe pay at an undisclosed depth. The well also produced 3.4 MMcfd of gas on tests.

Two delineation wells, 2 and 4 Zafiro, also are productive. The 2 Zafiro flowed 10,237 b/d of oil from Qua Iboe pay about 1/2 mile southwest of 1 Zafiro. Mobil and UMC did not test 3 Zafiro but cased the well for production.

The other productive well on Block B, 1 Opalo, in summer 1995 flowed a combined 7,818 b/d of 39° gravity oil from two deep Qua Iboe zones on a separate structure 2 miles northeast of 1 Zafiro.

Copyright 1996 Oil & Gas Journal. All Rights Reserved.